Darren Carter is an American actor and stand-up comedian known for his performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comics Unleashed, Premium Blend on Comedy Central, and as a supporting character in the 2005 feature film Be Cool with John Travolta. Today the stand-up comedian is best known as the Rooster, a title he earned for his bright red hair and comic style.

Personal Life

The stand-up comedian is originally from Fresno, California where he was adopted into a foster family and grew up as the son of a Baptist minister who Carter used to ask questions about sex just to watch his adoptive father get uncomfortable at being asked. The comedian’s parents are Caucasian, and his two sisters are Native-American and Latina.

Growing up in a racially mixed blue-collar neighborhood, the stand-up comedian developed a unique blend of comedy. The stand-up comedian’s personality came out when he started to rap, break dance and hip hop all with a flare for humor to boot. After graduating high school, the stand-up comedian worked at a local Fresno radio station as an overnight DJ. While attending junior college, the stand-up comedian had started performing stand-up comedy at country music bars and comedy clubs.

While still a teenager, the stand-up comedian moved to San Jose, California for a job at the theme park, Marriot's Great America where he continued to perform stand-up comedy. Prior to stand-up comedy, Carter had some odd jobs: waiter at Bakers Square in San Jose, security guard at Am Guard where the stand-up comedian was supposed to check the employees bags on the way out to see if anyone was stealing computer chips.

The stand-up comedian has been married to his wife Genie since 1997. They have a son named Austin.

Career

In 1993, the stand-up comedian moved to San Diego, worked the comedy circuit there for two years and landed his first national commercial for Miller Beer. The stand-up comedian popularity began to rise in Los Angeles too, as he quickly became a fan favorite at a long-running Thursday night show at San Gennaro produced by Rob Twohy and Mariano Rodriugez. The comic also started his film acting career in the 1990 film Sylvan Lake Summer.

During the next three years, the stand-up comedian headlined at The Comedy Store, The Improv, The Laugh Factory, Stand-Up New York and performed on MTV's Spring Break. The stand-up comedian became famous in 1996 with his appearance on Showtime's "Latino Laugh Festival" followed by various stand-up comedy performances and guest starring roles on television and in different movies.

The stand-up comedian currently appears on Paul Rodriguez's Latin All stars DVD and he also makes regular appearances on the Nobody Likes Onions Internet radio program making his first appearance in episode 466 "Ginger Lover".

Due to his high school love for hip-hop, the stand-up comedian was spotted by hip-hop superstar Snoop Dogg for his dead-on impersonations of the rapper. The comic was also tapped to perform multiple times at Snoop's Dogg's annual family reunion.

Since his Showtime debut, the stand-up comedian appeared on several television series including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He also appeared on Galavision's popular show Que Locos and performed on BET, Comedy Central's Premium Blend and Comics Unleashed. The stand-up comedian filmed a movie that stars Master P. and his son L'il Romeo entitled, Uncle P. the stand-up comedian also had a pretty substantial support role in 2005's Be Cool as Glenn from Thrifty Executive Fleet, the rental car representative that optimistically lets down John Travolta.

In 2006, the comic actor played Pete in an episode of Cuts entitled Rouge Trip and appeared in the Damon 'Coke' Daniels' film Who Made the Potato Salad, which Carter describes as a black Meet the Parents.

In the same year (2006), the redheaded stand-up comedian returned to the media after winning new fans with his 2006 appearance at the Latin Kings of Comedy tour stop in Stockton. Another recent televised appearance was on a 2006 Latin Palooza broadcast where the stand-up comedian performed together with Latino heavy weight comics including Willy Barcena, Joey Medina, Mike Robles and Flip Schultz.

The stand-up comedian also appeared on the series Inside Joke and in a recent Freddy Soto tribute. Most recently, Carter has guest starred on The X Show, The Tonight Show and The Jamie Foxx Show. Recently he has done some voice work on Tony Hawk's American Wasteland video game.

In 2008, the stand-up comedian released his critically acclaimed comedy album Shady Side. The stand-up comedian also has two more stand-up albums under his signature: My Name Is Darren Carter (2008) and That Ginger Is Crazy (2010).